Third Wave Feminism- Inclusion or Confusion?

Chapter 8 in Tong’s book on postmodern feminism was very interesting.  The book said that postmodern feminists reject phallocentric thought and it also rejects any mode of feminist thought that aims to provide a single explanation for why women are oppressed or all the steps women must take to achieve liberation.  I thought the section on symbolic order was very interesting because it gives women an avenue to change language and develop feminine writing to change the way Western society speaks and thinks about women.  This will allow for women to have a voice and to speak out against issues that they feel strongly about.  Cosmetic surgery was brought up in the context of begin obedient to certain discourses that women are placed upon.  Cosmetic surgery is definitely a patriarchal construct because it is an institution that forces women into unnecessary extreme beauty practices.  I agree with this statement because there is not one logical reason for women to have these surgeries because it leaves them vulnerable to outside approval.  This is unnecessary approval because as long as a woman is comfortable with herself, then no one else’s opinion should matter.  But the problem is that, that kind of approval is what makes women have many surgeries to the point where they do not even look like the same person!

Third wave feminism is eager to state that gender shouldn’t and doesn’t matter.  Women should be allow to do what they want to do because it makes them happy, not because society tells them they should or shouldn’t.  The thing I agree with about third wave feminism is that you should not have to wake up every morning and constantly be reminded about your gender.  There are more important things to worry about.  However, third wave feminism is so accepting that I have to disagree with it at some points.  There was an example of a “feminist porn queen” and how third wave feminists agree that this is possible.  I disagree with this statement because no matter how happy a woman is stripping, she is still being sexually exploited by men and the respect factor of that kind of work is still degrading for women.